this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and susie gharib. brought to you in part by -- >> the street.com. founded by jim cramer, the street.com is an independent source for stock market analysis. cramer's action alerts plus service is home to his multimillion dollar portfolio. you can learn more at the street.com/nbr. record close. fed chair janet yellen puts investors in a buying mood, pushing s & p to new highs at the close. should her comments be interpreted as a green light for stock investors? return to profit. a surprisingly strong quarter for electronics retailer best buy. but is it proof that the company's turn around is on solid footing? and what did general motors know and when did they know it? regulators are asking whether the automaker reacted fast

enough in its recall of more than 1 million cars and the issue could prove costly. we have all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for this thursday, february 27th. good evening, everyone. i'm susie gharib. >> and i'm bill griffeth. look forward to an interview. meantime soothing words today from janet yellen, new chair of the federal reserve to testified today before the senate banking committee about the strength of the u.s. economy right now. that sent the s&p 500 to a new record closing high today. ms. yellen told lawmakers and wall street that she is staying the course right now. she will continue to taper back on the central bank's asset buying stimulus program and keep record low interest rates right where they are. but she's also keeping an eye on whether the winter unrelenting snow and bitterly cold temperatures have been responsible for the slowdown in

job growth and consumer spending that we've seen, or if they're indicate of a larger long-term problem in the economy. the new fed chair is cautious in her long-term forecast for the economy. steve liesman has more on ms. yellen's appearance on capitol hill today, what she said that wall street liked and where she sees the economy heading next. . the new fed chair in testimony before the senate today gave her long-run outlook for the u.s. economy, and it wasn't a pretty one. asked how long it would take for the economy to normalize, janet yellen ven sturdtured several y think. she reiterated the bleak outlook for americans looking for jobs. >> the fact we've seen very slow growth in wages, for example, i take as one of many pieces of information suggesting that the labor market is not returned to normal and has quite a ways to go. and it's something that's appropriate for to us look at as we consider appropriate monetary

policy. >> reporter: on the immediate economic news, yellen suggested a lot of recent weakness in the data is like lit result of weather. but the fed hasn't figured out yet how much. >> in the weeks and months ahead, my colleagues and i will be attentive to signals that indicate whether the recovery is progressing in line with our earlier expectations. >> reporter: yellen is sticking to the general policy of her predecessor, ben bernanke, because the economy has improved somewhat the fed is reducing its bond purchases meant to drive down interest rates and is on track to wind them down by the end of the year unless there is in yellen's words a quote significant change in the outlook. but because the economy is still operating below normal, the fed plans to keep interest rates very low for a long time. for "nightly business report," i'm steve liesman. on wall street today, investors apparently liked what they heard from yellen, sending stocks higher and pushing the s&p 500 to a new record high. the markets also got a boost from a batch of retail stocks.

investors and traders shrugged off disappointing economic reports, a spike in first-time jobless claims last week and a 1% dip in orders for big ticket durable goods ordered last month. both as a result of bad winter weather. the dow rose 74 points, the nasdaq added 26, touching a fresh 14-year high, and there's the s & p up 9 points, closing at a new record of 1854.29. joining us now with his perspective on the markets our friend hugh johnson, chairman and chief investment officer at hugh johnson advisers. hugh, always good to see you. >> my pleasure, bill. >> so the s & p sits at an all-time high tonight. should it be? >> well, yeah, you can't argue with it. i think one of the reasons it should be is that when you take a look at just the experience of the last year plus, the returns that you've had from the stock market are so phenomenal, are so positive, and the returns from

other asset classes such as the bon market haven't been very good. so as a result of that, that's obviously atracking a lot of invests to the equity markets. i think that's one of the reasons. there's just simply better returns. the other reason is when i crunch the numbers and i do the valuation metrics, bill, i'll be honest with you, i think the market's fairly valued. and i don't think there's any good reason to believe that there's some reason that the current bull market economic cycle is going to end in 2014 and '15. i think things look very positive. so i don't think there's any reason it shouldn't be here, and no reason it shouldn't go higher, significantly higher perhaps. >> let me toss out the question about the ukraine. it seems like investors don't have to worry about the federal reserve too much. fed chair yellen says she's going to stay the course. but what about all these headlines that investors are seeing about the ukraine? should they be worried about that? >> you always, susie, always have to worry about something.

you have to worry about some of the things that janet yellen mentioned, what is the extent of the slowdown on the economy do just due to the weather or something more fundamental. she's going to be working on trying to answer that question. that's one worry. but the geopolitical situation should clearly be worried about it. obviously fit deteriorates, if what happens in the ukraine deteriorates and it end up in a confrontation between russia and the western world, including the united states, that's not good news, particularly when you think of russia is responsible for about 12.5% of total global production of oil. so there has significant economic implications. so you watch that very carefully, cross your fingers, hope that it doesn't deteriorate further. >> you're not alone in believing that the stock market has much more to go. a lot of analysts on wall street now are thinking the s & p could hit 2,000 by the end of this year. but do you worry about some of these high flyers that we see these days? the teslas, the facebooks, the

netflix, twitter and that huge gain that it had after its upo last year? does that remind you of another time, maybe the 1990s? are we getting frothy in the sector right now, do you think? >> i think, bill, that's a great observation. and i think janet yellen was asked the question are we seeing speculation in the different asset classes, particularly in equities. and i think she's pretty much said or implied that no, broadly speaking we're not seeing a level of speculation or euphoria in the markets themselves. but there's clearly pockets of the market, you mention them, tesla, for example, where you have extreme problems -- i have extreme problems with high valuations. and it does remind me of the late 1990s when we ran into problems. it's not in my view widespread enough yet to be overly concerned about it. but fed's going to watch it. i'm going to watch it. and every investor should watch it. if it starts to broaden out and we get significant

overvaluation, significant optimism in the markets, that's usually going to be a signal to reduce your exposure to equities. we're not there yet. >> hugh johnson, chairman and chief investment officer at hugh johnson advisers. investors weren't buying into the strong results. the nation's biggest electronics chain unexpectedly turned a profit last quarter, cutting costs to offset declining sales. but the stock fell nearly 1% today and is down 35% so far this year. courtney reagan has more now on best buy's turn around and what's next for the retailer. >> reporter: in january best buy reported disappointing holiday sales and warned of compressed profit margins which sent shares tumbling 28%. but today's full quarterly results are changing some

investors' thoughts about best buy. despite weaker than expected 15e8s, best buy's earnings beat the street by a wide margin thanks to a stronger than anticipated level of cost cutting. you will profit margins weren't as bad as feared, even after the retailer warned it had to cut prices to remain competitive during the holiday season. best buy ceo has also made e-commerce and faster more efficient product delivery a priority and it's working. >> we've made a lot of progress online. the online sales are up 26% in the fourth quarter. becoming much more competitive with amazon. but at the end of the day, turn arounds are bumpy. that's what we're seeing here. they made a lot of progress in 2013. i think they'll continue to make progress, maybe not at the pace that we originally thought. >> reporter: i spoke to jolie on the phone and asked him where the surge in online sales is coming from. is it best buy in-store shoppers now buying online, or is it new best buy shoppers that have been shopping with competitors?

jolie says quote the good news is it is both. but we are getting a fair share of growth online from new customers. we're making a push to grab millennials. and we have great market share with boomers. jolie didn't dwell much on the external economic pressures touted by many other retailers this earning season though he acknowledged there's a level of economic uncertainty, adding a rising tide may not lift us. we have to walk to the top ourselves. for "nightly business report," i'm courtney reagan. and shares of another beaten down retailer, get this, had their best day in more than four decades today. j.c. penney shares soared by 25% after the struggling department store said that it lost a lot less money than forecast last quarter as sales edged higher and penneys is projecting -- federal investors are

looking into whether general motors was slow in announcing a recall after receiving complaints about faulty ignition switches in more than 1 million of its cars. those defaults eventually led to 31 accidents and 13 deaths. phil lebeau joins us now from chicago with more on the investigation and what g.m. executives knew and when they knew it. so phil, fill us in a little bit. how serious is this investigation? and how worried do you think g.m. execs are feeling about all this? >> reporter: it's certainly a concern. they've come out twice and apologized. you'll hear one of their apologies in a little bit. the problem here is the timeline, susie whether there's a recall in the auto industry, the automaker submits a timeline explaining when they knew there would be a problem in a particular vehicle. the timeline goes back to 2004. along the way there are many people saying boy there was more than enough indication that perhaps general motors should have initiated a recall far

sooner than at the beginning of t 2014. today general motors put out a second statement regarding the recall of the ignition keys and problems that resulted here essentially saying we are deeply regretful of the events that led to the recall and this investigation as our detailed chronology indicates, we intend to fully cooperate with the national highway traffic safety commission and welcome the opportunity to help the agency have a full understanding of the facts. there is no doubt that for general motors, susie, this is just beginning. >> a long list of vehicles involved in this vehicle, too many to go over. what do people that own those vehicles do right now? >> reporter: it's about 1.37 million. models between 2003 and 2007 model years. a couple of chevys on there, a couple of pontiacs and saturns. for now if you have these vehicles, we're talking about the key that goes into the

ignition, general motors and the national highway traffic safety commission are telling the owners use that key by itself. do not have it on a key ring. do not have other things on the key ring. the belief is that perhaps these could jar the ignition key which cause es the problem with the air bags. that's what they're saying right now. by april general motors believes it will start to be able to send a fixed warranty notice to people about how to get it fixed. >> we're getting into the buying season now. to what extent is this investigation a black mark against g.m.? do you think it will impact sales and consumer buying habits? >> reporter: i don't think so. generally speaking you have to have something far more dramatic, far more serious to really keep people out of the show rooms, susie. >> phil lebeau, thank you for that tonight. and still ahead, why choosing healthier foods at the grocery store may be soon a little easier for you but costlier for the food industry. that story next.

an update for you on the latest crisis in the ukraine. armed militia seized the parliament building in ukraine's crimea region today, raising a russian flag in defiance of kiev's interim leaders. mean while, ukraine's currency fell again. its value has plunged 20% so far this year. now, after appeals from kiev for financial help, an international monetary fund fact finding team is preparing to go to ukraine in the coming days. and just tonight, according to dow jones, the economic minister says there's no risk of imminent economic collapse. heavy discounting during the holiday shopping season paid off for the gap. that's where we begin tonight's market focus. the clothing giant which operates gap, old navy and banana republic reported better than expected earnings after the

closing bell, but revenues were a tad light. and the retailer's full year outlook was weaker than forecast. and that sent the stock lower initially. shares closed the regular session at $43.68. also reporting earnings after the bell tonight, decker, the maker of uggs boots posted better than expected earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter but said the current quarter would not meet current wall street projections. that sent shares lower initially after the closing bell. decker's finished the regular session at $84.67. sears beat wall street estimates and narrowed its loss while overall sale fell during the last quarter. the company did say this month it is seeing rare sales growth. the ceo is trying to engineer a turn around at the retailer and is investing heavily in a customer loyalty program. shares shot up by more than 6% today during the session, closing at 43.01. wendy's fourth quarter earnings rose, but sales came in

under pressure and revenue fell short. the company reaffirmed its outlook for the year and said it plans to continue with its strategy of offering both premium priced and low-cost menu items. shares of wendy's down 2% to $9.94. it was a strong quarter for mylanta drugmaker. thanks to growth in its specialty segment and global generics business. earlier this month, mylan completed its acquisition of a vaccinemaker. today the ceo said the strong results have put the company in a position to make another substantial acquisition this year. >> the scale, the globalization of the industry as a whole from customers to consumers, i just think that being able to serve every geography and of course our mission statement to get to 7 billion people with affordable medicine. the way you do it is with scale. >> the stock soared more than 9%, making it one of the best performers on the s&p 500 today.

activist investor nelson peltz continues to pressure pepsi. he says he's spoken with several big shareholders and received positive reaction to his plan to split up the snack and beverage company. he says he plans to take the issue to every major pepsi shareholder in the coming weeks. pepsi responded by saying it remains focused on delivering results for shareholders not new costly quote distractions. shares rose .5% to 79.07. another activist is once again stepping up its fight for sotheby's. dan loeb's third point hedge fund plans to nominate three people to the company's board according to a filing. loeb himself will be one of the nominees. in response, sotheby says it's disappointed that third point has chosen this path. last october loeb called for management changes includinged ceo stepping down. the stock fell a fraction to 50.37. and joseph a. bank has rejected men's wear house's latest takeover offer.

it said know to the bid but did say it's willing to consider a higher offer and will meese with men's wear house to discuss price. shares of both companies rose today during the regular session and popped after hours on the news. >> that is the takeover deal that won't go away. turning to health news and some big changes coming to nutrition labels on just about everything you buy at the grocery store. the agriculture department has now proposed new calorie and added sugar listings on many popular foods to more accurately reflect the portions that americans eat and how much fat and calories we're actually taking in brace yourself. bertha coombs has more. >> reporter: the white house used its best-known health advocate to announce its new labelling program, the first lady. >> as consumers and as parents, we have a right to understand what's in the food we're feeding our families. >> reporter: the format change calls for a larger emphasis on calories with a label representing the actual package serving size. and a new line that points out

added sugar. >> why does this really matter? because added sugars contribute to a substantial portion of american calories that don't really provide much else in the way of nutrients. >> reporter: the estimates are it will cost the food industry $2 billion to make the change. but branding and labelling consultants say the real costs will be accounting for new nutrients that have to be involved. >> it's a significant effort on their part. >> reporter: fda commissioner margaret hamberg hopes the new emphasis on added sugar will prompt package foodmakers to make change. >> this occurred back in 2006 when fda required food producers to add information about trans fats. >> reporter: some foodmakers now tout the lack of trans fats. but when it comes to added sugar, they'll likely try to downplay it. >> i don't have to bring that information around to the front of the package and indicate that that's there. is it going to be a tight rope

to walk? you bet. >> reporter: snack and soft drinkmakers may also try to push back on the proposed change. in a statement, the grocery manufacturers of america, the industry group that represents large foodmakers, says it looks forward to working with the fda on the label changes, but adds that it's critical that the changes be based on current and reliable science. bertha coombs, "nightly business report," new york. from eating healthier to curing disease, we'll introduce you to the man who's trying to revolutionize the health care industry and save lives by using technology and data. that's coming up.

some 3,000 chief executives from 125 countries are gathering in los angeles for the annual meeting of the young presidents organization. now, among them dr. patrick sun shn shan the ceo of california based -- it con some dates and integrates medical records, scientific data and other information that he says could revolutionize the health care industry and potentially save lives. our own tyler mathisen sat down with the doctor at the ypo event discussing how the program works and how it can help. >> susie, thank you very much. doctor, welcome. good to have you with us. let me start with the big broad question. what is america doing right, and what are we doing wrong in health care, its delivery, what we're spending on, what we're investing in or not investing in? >> well, what we're doing right we're still the innovators of the world. i think the investment that's been made in research and

science still means that we are on the cutting edge. what we're doing wrong is because we know so much information, which should make either a difference in terms of whether this patient lives or dice, we're not giving that information out to the patient and the provider in time. and the reason we're not doing that is because we have these systems that don't talk to each other. and i think if you follow what you do, you don't know when your doctor and your primary care physician and the hospital and clinic if you go to a different city has any access to your information in real time. >> and one of the things that i know you've been working on actually an initiative that you've brought out just in the past few days, maybe even earlier this week, is one to bring together medical records and to unify them in a way that could help with that. >> so the best way to describe what i've been doing in the last decade is understanding we have a blockbuster modelling of the netflix model. so we basically created the

netflix of health care so to speak. where we can now take every medical record regardless of where it's generated, every medical device, 6,000 of them, and actually integrate that in real time in the cloud and create what we call an operating system, a clinical operating system that can now go between the mobile device and the cloud and have accessibility in secure health information real time for both provider and doctor no matter where you are. >> you also earlier today were talking about the realities, not just the potential, that big data and understanding it has to change the lives of people who are afflicted with some of the world's great afflictions. blindness, parkinson's, autism. tell me a little bit about that marriage of technology and clinical practice and the kinds of things that you're doing now that the world will see more of over the next decade. >> what's going to transform

health care is big data. but the problem is to actually digest big data in a transparent format that is actionable in time of need. so we just launched a company called nant health. stands for nano technology or he who speaks for the people. at hims which is this biggest conference, largest health care conference we launched this critical operating system to take big data into the cloud and make it actionable in time of need at point-of-care, anywhere anytime. so until we could do that, you wouldn't take advantage of the amazing amount of science that is evolving now. to cure yet incurable diseases. >> using such things as photonics. i saw an amazing demonstration using the power of light to interrupt some of the brain transmissions that cause the outward symptoms of parkinson's. a man who was really afflicted

stood up and walked normally across a room. it's astonishing. >> well, and i think that's what is exciting. because for the first time, we're interrogating how the brain works, how sight works, how cancer cells work at what i call the atom levels. so at the first time we can touch and feel the cell in real time. so if we can do that, understanding the mechanisms, we really have a show tt at treati parkinson's disease, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer. we have the shot now for the first time. >> dr. sun-shan, appreciate your sharing with us. back to you. >> that's fascinating interview. and all that progress. but it really amazes me about health care some of the basic delivery systems, just shared technology, still no standardized system. >> and what they're doing with nano technology, biotech stocks have been flying high for a few years now. and you're starting to see

results now from all the research that they've been using at this point. >> all good stuff. absolutely. that's "nightly business report" for us tonight. i'm susie gharib. thanks for watching. >> i'm bill griffeth. have a great evening. see you tomorrow. "nightly business report" has been brought to youin part by -- >> the street.com. founded by jim cramer, the street.com is an independent source for stock market analysis. cramer's action alerts plus service is home to his multimillion dollar portfolio. you can learn more at the street.com/nbr.

♪ when we grew up and went to school ♪ ♪ there were certain teachers who would ♪ ♪ hurt the children any way they could ♪ ♪ by pouring their derision upon anything we did ♪